Payments Officer

Hertfordshire County Council; Farnham; Hybrid; GBP 26,000 - 29,000; Full time

Job summary

Hertfordshire County Council in Stevenage is seeking a Payments Officer to join the Resources directorate. You will process and pay invoices for Adult Care Services, verify details, and resolve discrepancies using social care systems.

The role requires a financial qualification or relevant experience, strong IT skills (especially Excel), and the ability to collaborate with providers, social workers, and residents.

Qualifications

• Financial management qualification or relevant experience.
• Experience in a fast-paced administrative or financial processing environment.
• Confident communicator with the ability to handle queries professionally and build relationships.
• Competent IT skills including Excel and the ability to learn new systems quickly.

Responsibilities

• Process and pay invoices in a timely and accurate manner using established payment methods and social care systems.
• Review invoice accuracy and raise queries with care providers to resolve errors or missing information.
• Prepare and upload financial data to social care software to generate charges for individuals receiving care and support.
• Request and arrange prepaid cards for Direct Payments to enable individuals to manage their own care services.
• Respond promptly and professionally to queries from internal and external stakeholders via email and telephone.

Skills

Finance

Fast-paced environment

Communication

Excel

Education

Financial qualification or equivalent

Tools

Excel

Job description

Job Introduction

Job Title: Payments Officer

Starting Salary: £26,427 progressing to £29,071 per annum

Hours:37 hours per week

Location:Robertson House, Stevenage with hybrid home working

Contract Type: Permanent

Directorate:Resources

About The Team

Our Payments Team supports Adults, families, and wider Hertfordshire communities by ensuring accurate, timely, and efficient financial processing. Our vision is to deliver a reliable, person‑centred payments service that enables frontline teams to focus on achieving positive outcomes for residents. We aim to provide a high‑quality, transparent service that resolves payment issues quickly and helps maintain strong, trusted relationships with providers and service users.

This Payments Officer role plays a key part in maintaining the smooth running of our operations by overseeing the processing of invoices and direct payments, supporting colleagues, and helping to continuously refine and improve payment processes within Adult Care Services.

The team works closely with a range of internal and external stakeholders, including ACS Brokerage and Commissioning, Social Workers, Business Partner Finance teams, providers, and Hertfordshire residents. These relationships are essential to ensuring payments are processed accurately and that any queries are resolved efficiently.

As an established team with clear responsibilities and strong foundations, we are continuously evolving. This role offers the opportunity to contribute to shaping future ways of working and strengthening the service as demand and systems evolve.

About The Role

Process and pay invoices in a timely and accurate manner, using established payment methods and social care systems to verify details and identify discrepancies.

Review invoice accuracy and raise queries with care providers where necessary to resolve errors or missing information.

Prepare and upload financial data to social care software to generate charges for individuals receiving care and support.

Request and arrange prepaid cards for Direct Payments, enabling individuals to manage and arrange their own care services.

Respond promptly and professionally to queries from internal and external stakeholders via email and telephone, providing clear and accurate information.

About You

Essential:

• A financial management qualification or similar or relevant experience
• Demonstrable experience working in a fast‑paced administrative or financial processing environment.
• Confident communicator with the ability to handle queries professionally and build effective working relationships with colleagues, providers, and residents.
• Competent IT skills, including confident use of Microsoft Office applications (especially Excel) and the ability to learn new systems quickly.

Desirable

• Knowledge of local authority processes, Adult Care Services, or other public‑sector payment systems.
• Understanding of audit requirements, internal controls, or financial compliance frameworks.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a supportive and fast‑paced team dedicated to delivering excellent outcomes for adults, families, and providers. The role is ideal for someone eager to grow their leadership skills, take on new challenges, and contribute to the ongoing development of the service. If you are enthusiastic, driven, and committed to making a positive impact, we would love to hear from you.

We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.

This job role is Level 6. Please locate the job profile here:

Job profiles - Corporate services

To hear more about this opportunity please contactTanya Marks-Visser 01992 555059for an informal discussion about the role.

Interview Date: 15 October 2026

Additional Information

We are changing

Hertfordshire County Council is undergoing Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). If you are employed by Hertfordshire County on 1 April 2028, it is expected that most roles will transfer to the newly‑created unitary councils on existing terms and conditions under TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings – Protection of Employment) principles.

LGR is one of the biggest changes we will face in a generation. It will reshape how we work and how services are organised and gives us a real opportunity to build something better. To find out more, visit https://www.hertfordshire-lgr.co.uk/

Disability Confident

We are proud to be aDisability Confident employerand guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

English Fluency

The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required).Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.